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Books of Esk
This is an index of all known Eskine books, complete with brief synopses. Fiction The Tales of Stupid Hanou This book of legends tells of a fictional Vardok named Stupid Hanou, who bumbles his way through a series of adventures. The general format is: Hanou hears of a problem, Hanou plans to overcome the problem, Hanou's plan fails miserably, Hanou succeeds anyway. Alternatively, sometimes people will be having a problem and Hanou is too lacking intelligence to understand the complexity, so he just offers a simple solution that no one else could see because they were overthinking things. '' ''"Hanou" has also become an insulting name you might call someone when they do something clumsy or say something stupid. '' '''The Legend of the Four Deliverers ' Ancient stories tell of four heroes called the Deliverers who searched for the holy city of Imtelor. Along their journeys, they went around saving people from disasters, brigands, villains, and monsters. The main characters are the wise Salmak magician, the clever Vardok leader, the mischievous Aviran trickster, and the strong Nevtimak warrior. Many tales have been tacked on to the narrative as the story ages, and they have been compiled into one narrative. Each copy also includes a blank page between each story, and a tradtion has sprung up of book owners writing new tales featuring these heroes on the pages. The humans label such stories "fahn fict-shun" a phrase whose meaning is lost to time. '' Lore '''Provebs of the Jolmyr' Before the arrival of humans to Esk, each salmak village had a position called Jolmyr. The Jolmyr serves as judge of civil disputes and is responsible for sharing wisdom with the people and giving advice to whomever asks. '' ''The book title could mean that it was the sayings of a particular Jolmyr, but it could also be translated to mean the proverbs that should be a part of every Jolmyr. '' ''Some commonly quoted sayings: Better to live under a leaking roof in perpetual rain than to share a house with nagging wife. Knowledge in the hands of a fool is as a two-edged sword in the hands of a frenzied monkey. The greatest tactician is he than never needs fight a battle. '' '''Random Encounters with Eskine Fauna' Written by Vardokkan Journeyman Nie Unen, and translated into Common by Riven Thorne, Random Encounters with Eskine Fauna details Nie Unen's travels throughout Draconfall and the creatures he found on his journey. Filled with detailed illustrations and descriptions, the book is incredibly handy for any adventurer worth their salt. Although some of the entires are incomplete or contain speculation, many consider Nie Unen's works to be the primary authority on all things that crawl, slither, walk, or fly on Draconfall. The original copy is currently housed in the central building of Paar Tou. Biography Other The Ways of the Lover This Vardok manual on married life consists of advice for bride and groom on avoiding disputes, showing love to the partner, and general advice for happiness and success in marriage. It also has a compendium of sexual techniques in the last chapter, complete with illustrations. This last bit is the major reason for its success, and "condensed" versions of the book exist that contain this section alone. '' '''The Condensed Rules of Conduct' This brief pamphlet written by Sir Godric Bartholomew is his longest and most famous piece of writing. The full text can be viewed here . '' '''Lore of the 11 Sages' This comprehensive book of magic comprises the majority of Salmak knowledge on the subject, and tradition demands that an student who wishes to gain mastery of magic must come to the village of Satham, find one of the public copies there, and copy that manuscript by hand, a process which takes approximately twenty years. The student then spends additional decades reading and studying his copy, writing notes in the margin and additional details as he sees fit. Thereafter, he must write a treatise on the knowledge contained in this book, return to the village, submit his treatise, and demonstrate his magical talent. ''The book is approximately 1250 pages long, and the old joke is that it is long so a mage learns discipline, deep so that he learns studiousness, and heavy so that he does not neglect exercise. '' ''Most mages never put up with the tradition, but those that do earned the title Alner Neszalak, roughly translated to nobles of power. They were greatly respected. Transcribing a personal copy became less common after the rise of Nynan, but it still continues into modern times. '' ''In 2007 a Vardok named Shakee was admitted to the library to read and transcribe the copy made by Jolmyr, the Salmak whose name now means "counselor." This was the village's most valuable copy, and while all copies were worth a fortune due to the time taken to transcribe one and the high cost of paper, Jolmyr's edition was most prized, and therefore kept chained to a desk and guarded by two warriors at all times. The notes contained in this edition showed exceptional intelligence and wisdom. How Shakee stole this manuscript is unknown, but he did, and his heist is the stuff of legends. He returned it to his village and began setting up a printing press to make copies of it. The new edition incorporated Jolmyr's notes as canon text, and was named the Lore of the 12 Sages. Copies sold immediately after printing, despite massive markup. The council at Satham was outraged, and demanded a halt to the printing, which they said would inspire laziness in mages and degrade the prestige of magic. They poured their rage into a 7-page letter to which Shakee famously replied "Don't care." '' ''The elders got their copy returned eight months after it was stolen, in the same condition with which it had been taken. They also received one of the first editions of the Lore of the 12 Sages, which they immediately burned. To this day, possessing a copy of the Lore of the 11 Sages or Lore of 12 Sages that you did not write yourself is considered grounds for losing the rank of Alner Neszalak. ''